A One Sided Rivalry
by Lialane Graest
Summary: "If you hurt her, I will destroy you. I will remove your organs one by one and when you finally die, overcome by pain, I will destroy your soul." Stein hissed to Joe as he left. Joe would never hurt Marie intentionally, but what about unintentionally? His death could.


Joe stared at the silver haired man sitting in front of him. The questions he had had to ask were long done, and he was simply staring at the man.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Joe said after a moment.

"Yes, you do." Stein said, his hands lying limply in his lap. "Marie is interested in you."

"You're wrong, Stein."

"No."

Joe could tell the man wasn't lying. Hell, he had just interviewed Marie. He _knew_ that Stein was right. He just didn't want to let on his excitement over the knowledge; he wanted to play it cool. He definitely didn't want the man that people had already warned him was incredibly protective of Marie Mjolnir to know. So Joe, the lie detector, lied.

"Marie and I are old history, Stein. There's no way that she'd be interested in me after so long. Especially not with you around." Joe leaned back in his chair, watching the scientist through half-lidded eyes.

"She's never dressed up for me like she just did for you." Stein said coldly, his green eyes staring hatefully at the man.

"So she wanted to look good in case we were recording."

"It is more than that and we both know it, Joe." Stein spat out, fidgeting suddenly in his chair, the light glinting off the scientist's eyes.

"You're wrong, Stein." Joe repeated.

Stein was silent, staring at the Internal Affairs agent. Joe just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he wished he had a cup of coffee.

"You're free to go home, Stein." Joe said after a couple of moments.

Stein stood jerkily to his feet, hate brimming in his eyes even though none of it reached the man's face. He cranked the screw before walking past the other man. In a voice low enough so only Joe could hear it, Stein hissed out a warning.

"_If you hurt her, I will destroy you. I will remove your organs one by one and when you finally die, overcome by pain, I will destroy your soul."_ Venom dripped from the scientist's voice as he brushed past Joe.

A shiver ran through Joe. Stein had been telling the truth. Joe allowed himself to smile though, as the door shut behind Stein.

"_Given the opportunity I will never hurt Marie Mjolnir again, and will keep her safe from everything that would threaten her, and that does include you, Stein."_ Joe vowed silently.

* * *

Joe left Shibusen late, wandering down the streets and back to the apartment that Shinigami-sama had kindly loaned him. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't sense the souls that were approaching him until it was too late.

A snake wrapped around him, its fangs dripping venom. The bag that Joe had been carrying dropped from his fingers as he struggled against the large snake, and his eyes widened as he suddenly sensed the witches that were surrounding him. He opened his mouth to scream even as the snake wound its way up and around his neck, compressing his throat and keeping him from making any type of noise.

"Well, well." The voice was cold and calculating and Joe struggled for air as a child stepped into view. "You know what we are, don't you, Joe Buttataki? You can sense that we're witches. That makes you a much, much more dangerous threat than we had ever expected." A laugh, far too old for the child's body, escaped her throat.

The snake moved aside exposing the trapped man's chest as Joe frantically renewed his struggles. "I bet that you wish that you could breathe now, don't you? Don't worry. You'll feel air on your lungs again soon enough."

A sharp instrument that Joe belatedly realized was a scalpel pierced his chest. He tried desperately to scream, the agony unbelievable. It was short lived, fortunately. A few moments later he felt the blade find his heart and slam home.

His blood pumped in slowing gushes as he hit the ground, his head tilted so that he could see the dropped bag, a rose just peeking out from underneath the fallen paper. _'Marie… I'm sorry… I didn't want to hurt you… I… love you…'_ He thought, wishing he could tell her that and more.

The child's laughter split the air again as she reached out and grasped the soul that was now hanging above the shattered body.

"With this, Stein is done." She said haughtily, tossing the pack of cigarettes she held in her other hand onto the ground beside Joe's cooling corpse.

* * *

**A/N: I don't own Soul Eater. Inspiration hit late with this story, so I had to rush to finish it; I think it came out alright though :)**


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